Manual small incision extracapsular cataract surgery in Australia

BackgroundExamination of the results and describing the technique of manual small incision extracapsular cataract extraction on patients with advanced cataracts in urban Australia. DesignA descriptive case series. ParticipantsThirty-eight patients at three public hospitals, one tertiary and two secondary ophthalmic units in urban Australia. MethodsForty eyes with dense mature cataracts with hand movement vision or worse underwent a planned manual small incision extracapsular cataract extraction instead of traditional phaco-emulsification. Main Outcome MeasuresPostoperative visual aquity, surgically induced astigmatism and complications. ResultsSeventy-eight percent of patients had an uncorrected visual acuity of 6/12 or better on the first postoperative day. Eighty-three percent of patients had a distance corrected visual acuity of 6/9 or better 3 months postoperatively. One case was complicated by a posterior capsule rupture. No cases of endophthalmitis were reported. The summated vector mean of the surgically induced astigmatism was 0.089D at 93 degrees. ConclusionManual small incision extracapsular cataract extraction is an efficacious cataract surgery technique with good visual outcome and is a safe alternative to phaco-emulsification in suitable cases in a first-world setting.